1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to cosmetic compacts in which facial powders or other cosmetics to be applied to the face of a user are stored, and more particularly to a compact whose container has a cover hinged thereto by a snap-on hinge which when the cover is swung open to assume a predetermined mirror viewing angle with respect to the container, the hinge maintains the cover at this angle, and should the cover be forced to a greater angle, it will then snap off the container without breaking the hinge.
2. Status of Prior Art
The term makeup, in the sense this term is used in cosmetics, encompasses the full range of cosmetics employed by women to beautify and color their face. Included in this term are pressed facial powders, blushes, mascara and eye shadow. These cosmetics, when stored in a compact, may be applied by a finger to a user's face, or by brushes or other applicators.
The typical facial powder compact in current use takes the form of a container having an oyster or other shape having stored therein a supply of pressed facial powder, and a cover having a small mirror mounted on its inner wall hinged to the rear of the container so that when the cover is swung open, the user holding the compact can observe her face while applying powder thereto.
The rear hinge in many compacts, especially most upscale compacts, includes a brass hinge pin on which the cover swings. When the cover is swung up, it should be held open at all angular positions without falling back onto the container. And it should, when fully opened, be maintained at an optimum obtuse angle of 110 degrees, for this is the best angle to view the face in the mirror.
The ability of a compact to stay open at an angle of 110 degree is important because the user will typically hold the compact in the palm of her hand while viewing the mirror as she applies the cosmetic to her face; hence it is best that the mirror be tilted away from the face.
In many commercially available compacts which make use of a pin-type hinge, the nature of the hinge is such that when the cover is swung open, it is not then maintained at an adjusted angle, but is free to fall back on the container. Compacts of the type leave much to be desired, for the user holding the compact in the palm of her hand must at the same time with her fingers try to hold the cover at a proper viewing angle.
Also known are compacts which exclude the use of a hinge pin and instead provide a ball and socket arrangement in which ball-shaped molded protrusions on the hinge side of the cover snap into corresponding molded U-shaped protrusions on the hinge side of the container. But a ball and socket hinge of this type does not impose a limit on the angle at which the cover can be swung open, making it necessary for the user to adjust the angle of the swung-open cover so as best to see the mirror.